Synonyms

bugaboo

[buhg-uh-boo] Origin

bug·a·boo

[buhg-uh-boo]
noun, plural bug·a·boos.
something that causes fear or worry; bugbear; bogy.

Origin:
1730–40; earlier buggybow. See bogy, boo
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Bugaboo is always a great word to know.
So is callithumpian. Does it mean:
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
Collins
World English Dictionary
bugaboo (ˈbʌɡəˌbuː)
 
n , pl -boos
an imaginary source of fear; bugbear; bogey
 
[C18: probably of Celtic origin; compare Cornish buccaboo the devil]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

bugaboo
1843, earlier buggybow (1740), probably an alteration of bugbear (see bug), but connected by Chapman [DAS] with Bugibu, demon in the O.Fr. poem "Aliscans" from 1141, which is perhaps of Celtic origin (cf. Cornish bucca-boo, from bucca "bogle, goblin").
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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